Short Interest in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) Drops By 5.5%

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 563,800 shares, a decrease of 5.5% from the October 15th total of 596,800 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 113,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days.

BancFirst Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ BANF opened at $121.62 on Tuesday. BancFirst has a 1-year low of $81.21 and a 1-year high of $129.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $109.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.77. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $163.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.70 million. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 13.92%. As a group, equities analysts expect that BancFirst will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on BancFirst from $84.50 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd.

Insider Activity at BancFirst

In related news, EVP Dennis Jay Hannah sold 10,543 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.58, for a total transaction of $1,334,532.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $197,971.12. This trade represents a 87.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 1,391 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.01, for a total value of $146,068.91. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 215,024 shares in the company, valued at $22,579,670.24. The trade was a 0.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 157,107 shares of company stock worth $17,847,219 in the last ninety days. 33.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BancFirst

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BANF. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 50.8% in the 3rd quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management now owns 1,702,082 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $177,936,000 after purchasing an additional 573,224 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in BancFirst during the 3rd quarter worth $112,370,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of BancFirst by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 872,101 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $92,187,000 after acquiring an additional 96,483 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 482,785 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,823,000 after purchasing an additional 58,016 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BancFirst by 499.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 57,614 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,053,000 after purchasing an additional 48,006 shares during the last quarter. 51.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BancFirst Company Profile

BancFirst Corporation operates as the bank holding company for BancFirst that provides a range of commercial banking services to retail customers, and small to medium-sized businesses. The company operates through BancFirst Metropolitan Banks, BancFirst Community Banks, Pegasus, Worthington, and Other Financial Services segments.